Perspectives of U.S. Ophthalmology Residents and Medical Students on Ophthalmology Exposure during Medical School

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Introduction In recent decades, ophthalmology exposure in medical school has been increasingly reduced. In turn, medical students have expressed concern over their ophthalmic skills. Research investigating the status of ophthalmology education in U.S. undergraduate medical curricula is limited to institutional data devoid of the student or resident perspective. This study seeks to gain a better understanding of current ophthalmology education for U.S. medical students from the trainee point of view.

Methods A cross-sectional survey was distributed to current U.S. medical students interested in ophthalmology and U.S. ophthalmology residents. Demographic data, ophthalmology curriculum information, respondent learning preferences, and personal reflections were recorded. Thematic analysis and chi-square tests were utilized.

Results In total, 387/4,482 (8.6%) surveys were completed by respondents from 75 U.S. medical institutions. Most respondents were exposed to formal ophthalmology curriculum (63%), research (89%), mentorship (84%), and clinical experiences (87%) during medical school, and medical school curriculum was ranked the third most helpful resource for students to learn about ophthalmology. Yet, 29% of residents (n = 55) did not feel confident in their diagnostic ophthalmology skills based on their medical school exposure. Student and resident recommendations for improving ophthalmology education delivery commonly referenced nontraditional ophthalmology resources such as online videos (n = 83) to supplement traditional learning materials such as lectures (n = 56).

Discussion These findings suggest that primary ophthalmology exposure in medical school has shifted toward extracurricular activities such as research and clinical observation. Considering the increasing time demands placed on the medical education system, utilizing nontraditional educational materials to supplement current undergraduate medical education in ophthalmology may provide educators with a resource to improve learner confidence and resident preparedness.

Keywords ophthalmology undergraduate medical education - ophthalmology exposure - student perspectives - trainee perspectives Publication History

Received: 29 September 2022

Accepted: 24 April 2023

Article published online:
22 May 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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